Solomon: Rockets are best basketball fit for Dwight Howard

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Daryl Morey has been getting better and better at this general manager thing.

Obviously, his beg game has improved over the years as well.

After a serious fail, as they say, with the Rockets Red Party caravan that ended up in the wrong city chasing Chris Bosh, who had the Rockets somewhat behind the Heat on his free agency list of contenders for his service – and by somewhat behind, I’m talking like those horses behind Secratariat in the Belmont – Morey hit on Dwight Howard last night with his team’s stars James Harden and Chandler Parsons, with former Rockets’ stars Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Yao Ming and head coach Kevin McHale.

Their dinner at the Bel Air Hotel, was about basketball and how Howard’s best chance at winning a championship would be in Houston.

Now, I’m not one to be ridiculous and suggest that the Rockets would win next year’s NBA title if Howard signed with Houston, but I’m pretty sure that it was pointed out that Olajuwon won the championship in his 10th season in the NBA. Next season will be Howard’ 10th in the league.

Kobe Bryant told Lakers.com that “the last thing you want to do is convince a person to be here,” which ought to be the central point for the Lakers.

While that’s not, and can’t be, Mitch Kupchak’s approach, the Lakers, publicly at least, have embarrassed themselves with this billboard (and six more like it) and the sad #stay12 twitter campaign pushed by the team’s official Twitter account (@Lakers).
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I’m surprised they haven’t hired KC and the Sunshine Band to perform this 1979 classic of theirs outside Howard’s bedroom window. Actually, I don’t know that they haven’t, do I?

The Rockets’ bringing out the heavy hitters – they had Yao join the meeting via Skype – was the right way to go about it: less bells and whistles, and more substance.

Yao told Mark Berman of Fox 26 that he mentioned about the Rocket’s great tradition of big men and about the current nucleus being the perfect setup for Howard’s game: “We have a young team, a talented team that has ability to reach championship level with you.” (Isn’t it adorable that Yao stills refers to the Rockets as “we?” No? OK, my bad.)

Sure, Morey had to bell-and-whistle it a bit, so he asked his 63,000-plus Twitter followers to help:

I find it interesting that the Rockets’ official Twitter account made no mention of Howard. My guess is that was an oversight, but it is the type of oversight that comes with trying to stay away form bells and whistles. {UPDATE: NBA rules prohibit teams’ sites from commenting on free agency during the 10-day moratorium, but as a “designated negotiator” Morey is free to do so.}

Sorry, fans, but you all are bells and whistles, i.e. background noise. Surely, if a city’s fan inundated Howard with negative reactions, perhaps that might cause him pause, but general fan worship is like getting booed on the road: it comes with the job.

Morey tweeted after the meeting that “Hakeem & Clyde there made it obvious how @DwightHoward and @JHarden13 could be the next great big/wing combo.”

That indeed could be the case, albeit, neither in the proposed 2013 combo is as good as his respective counterpart in the Dream/Glide combo. Not even close.

Howard meets with Atlanta and Golden State today, and Dallas tomorrow, before begging L.A. gets back on its knees.

As I said the other day, if the Rockets pull this one off, it’ll be the biggest blow to Kupchak since Olajuwon dropped him with a roundhouse in the 1986 playoffs. I’m telling you, if you don’t remember it, it was beautiful punch.

That was a different Olajuwon than the one that led the Rockets to the title in 1994. The early Olajuwon had worse things said about him by Rockets’ brass than anyone has ever said about Howard.

Dwight Howard will never have Olajuwon’s game, but he could have a similar transformation or rehabilitation in reputation over the next few years if he contends for and/or wins and NBA championship.

There is little question that the best place for that to happen with Howard commanding the max contract that he deserves is in Houston. And, obviously, Howard is the Rockets’ best and fastest way into contention.

If you think otherwise, you need to ask somebody else to start doing your basketball thinking for you so that you won’t hurt yourself.

This is a marriage made in NBA free agency heaven.

Morey has positioned Houston to be a player for high-priced free agents for the next few years. If he doesn’t lure Howard, he won’t waste money on a bad contract for a semi-star, because the Rockets are setup to be major players again next offseason, as only Harden, Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik are under contract for the 20-14-15 season. (Even Parsons sits under a team option that unless his game falls completely off would be exercised.)

Now, if Howard doesn’t care at all about money, you may laugh now, there are a host of better places to ply his trade than Houston.